Up early as today is a big day-Terra Cotta Warriors! I'm so looking forward to this. But first buffet breakfast at the hotel.
First stop is the
Wild Goose Pagoda, a Tang Dynasty landmark. Seven story pagoda initially constructed in 652 AD to house the Buddhist sutras brought back from India by the monk Xian Zang who later translated them into Chinese. His pilgrimage to India is immortalized in the Chinese classic-The Journey to the West. Here I buy a Buddha incense burner.
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| Ambrosia (our guide) imparting some information about what we are seeing today |
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| Buddha incense burner that I bought |
Lunch is at the restaurant on site of the Terra Cotta Warriors. While at lunch there is a
man demonstrating the making of noodles. Cool.
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| Noodle making demonstration |
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| Entrance to Friendship Restaurant |
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| Huge jade sculpture by restaurant |
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| Site store |
But then the highlight of the day-
Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses! China's greatest archaeological discovery. They silently guarded the tomb of China's First Emperor Qinshihuang for over 2,200 years. In 1974 a local farmer was digging a well when he uncovered the first of three massive earth and timber vaults. This extensive evacuation is still in progress. It has yielded over 6,000 life size terra cotta warriors, each individually sculpted with the physical characteristics of the humans they were modeled after. Archers, infantrymen, horses, and bronze chariots have been unearthed. A Circle Vision documentary is available. What we see are 3 pits and the Exhibition Hall. We start at Pit 1 where Ambrosia gives us information. This is the larges section. After we are given free time and told where and when to meet up to continue our tour. I'm busy snapping pictures when Richard tells me we have to go as it's time. We head to the rear door but no one is there. I wait while Richard goes back inside to see if any of our group are still in pit 1. He returns saying no one from our group is there. So maybe they left without us? Why would they do that? We decide to head to the next stop but no one is there. We head to the Exhibition Hall but no one there either. I tell Richard to wait while I head back to pit 1. As I enter there are no tourists-just some men in suits with some military officers. Of course no one speaks English and I don't speak Chinese! I go back to where I've left Richard. I tell him we should go back to our bus when he spots Kevin! I find out that Richard rushed me out of pit 1 and they were still inside but he didn't look good enough to see them! So we missed seeing some of the other sections, Exhibition Hall. I'm very upset with Richard but..............nothing I can do now. Unfortunately my pictures aren't that great. But being able to just see the enormity of this in person goes beyond pictures and words.
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| First Emperor Qinshihuang |
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| Ticket office |
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| My ticket |
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| Pit 1 is the largest |
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| Exhibition Hall |
Reunited we are back in our bus and off to a special evening. We are going to Shaanxi Grand Opera House to see a performance featuring the
Tang Dynasty Palace Music and Dances and a
dumpling dinner. I'm not sure what time we arrived here but this was a wonderful evening. The music, the costumes, the delicacy of the dancing-amazing. 1. Hua Qing Palace-concert by Chinese traditional music instruments. Located at the foot of the mountain Lishan this palace used to be the palace of the Tang emperors. Describes the conviviality in the palace. 2. White Sleeve Dance-this is a kind of folk dance which was very popular at the imperial court in the Tang Dynasty. It originated from the Wu Kingdom, today JiangSu province, as early as the Jin Dynasty (256-316 AD) and became very popular in central China. In ancient China ramie was the main material used to make the long sleeves for dancing. The background song is "On the White Ramie" written by Li Bai, a very famous poet in the Tang Dynasty. 3. Panpipe Solo "Spring Orioles Songs"-this music was composed for the Tang Emperor Gao Song. The music displays an early spring scene-willow leaves, peach flowers blossoming, and hundreds of birds singing in the bright sun. 4. Spring Outing-this is a piece of famous Tang Dynasty dancing music for ritual ceremonies. This music depicts a group of young girls returning from a spring outing, dancing and singing, wishing for a happy future. 5. Masked Warriors-the masked warriors is a sorcerer's dance meant to expel epidemics and ghosts and to solicit wellbeing. During the Tang period this dance would be performed in the courts and among noble people every New Year's Eve. 6. Watching Bird and Catching Cicada-this is a great treasure of Tang mural painting and it reflects the life of a maid in the Tang imperial palace. Three maids-the one on the left is watching a bird, the one in the middle is watching a cicada, and the one on the right is missing her relatives. 7. Trumpet Solo "Harvesting Chinese Dates"-shows the happy and touching scene where people, both old and young, celebrate the bumper harvest of dates. 8. Fairy Dance in Feathered Costume-this is one of the most popular music dances in the Tang Dynasty. It was said that Emperor Xian Song was very good at music and poetry. One day he had dream touring the fairy land in the palaces on the moon. He saw many fairy ladies in a rosy cloud like costumes dancing and singing in the sky. When he woke up he composed a piece of music based on his dream and asked Yang You Hua, his favorite concubine, to arrange and rehearse the beautiful dance and light music that we enjoy right now tonight. 9. Percussion Show "Gossiping Ducks and Hungry Tiger"-the percussion music is popular around Xian and the yellow plateau. The music shows you through drums, cymbals, gongs how ducks play gossiping and quarreling at the Waterside-how a hungry tiger comes down from the mountain grinding its teeth is search of prey. 10. The Great Tang Rites and Music-a splendid collective dance, magnificent spectacle and colorful reveals the unprecedented grandeur and glory of the Tang Dynasty. Essence of oriental dance and music culture. This is the end of the show. The information I have posted here is from a program I have from the show.
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Pamphlet
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| 1. Hua Qing Palace |
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| 1. Hua Qing Palace |
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| 2. White Sleeve Dance |
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| 2. White Sleeve Dance |
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2. White Sleeve Dance
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| 3. Panpipe Solo |
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3. Panpipe Solo
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| 4. Spring Outing |
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| 4. Spring Outing |
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| 4. Spring Outing |
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| 5. Masked Warriors |
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| 6. Watching Bird and Catching Cicada |
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| 6. Watching Bird and Catching Cicada |
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| 7. Trumpet Solo "Harvesting Chinese Dates" |
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| 7. Trumpet Solo "Harvesting Chinese Dates" |
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| 8. Fairy Dance in Feathered Costume |
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| 8. Fairy Dance in Feathered Costume |
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| 8. Fairy Dance in Feathered Costume |
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| 8. Fairy Dance in Feathered Costume |
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| 8. Fairy Dance in Feathered Costume |
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| 9. Percussion Show "Gossiping Ducks and Hungry Tiger" |
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| 9. Percussion Show "Gossiping Ducks and Hungry Tiger" |
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| 9. Percussion Show "Gossiping Ducks and Hungry Tiger" |
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| 10. The Great Tang Rites and Music |
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| 10. The Great Tang Rites and Music |
Dim sum/dumpling dinner. Servers kept bringing out covered trays of steamed dumplings fashioned to represent the inside filling. A pig face for pork, an ear of corn for corn, a shark's fin for shark's fin, etc. Delicious. At the end a huge bowl of broth with miniature dumplings was brought to our table. As she scooped out ladles of the soup our server explained that the greater number of mini dumplings that ended up in your bowl meant the more luck you will have in the year to come. I was the fortunate one at our table to get the most mini dumplings in my soup!!
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| Soup |
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| Leaving |
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